RIP John Lennon. You would’ve been 75 today. Hard to believe he’s been gone so long. 🙁
The Pulse Of Radio reports Deep Purple, Nine Inch Nails, Yes and Cheap Trick are among the 15 artists newly nominated for possible induction into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. The top vote-getters will will be announced in December and inducted next April at a ceremony in New York. The other nominees are The Cars, Steve Miller, Chicago, Los Lobos, Janet Jackson, N.W.A., The Smiths, Chaka Khan, Chic, The JBs and the Spinners.
For the fourth consecutive year, the public will be able to vote alongside the more than 800 artists, historians and music industry insiders of the Rock Hall voting body. From now until Dec 9th, fans can vote on RollingStone.com for the nominees they’d like to see inducted. The top five acts will comprise a “fan’s ballot” that will count as one of the ballots that determine the class of 2016. The ceremony will be held in NYC this spring.
This is the first year that Chicago, Cheap Trick, the Cars, Los Lobos and Steve Miller have been nominated. Last year’s Hall Of Fame class included Green Day, Lou Reed, Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Joan Jett & The Blackhearts, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Ringo Starr. Bands that were eligible for nomination for the first time but were passed over included Alice In Chains, the Black Crowes, Jane’s Addiction and Soundgarden.
Pulse also reporting today Brett Morgen, director of the acclaimed documentary Kurt Cobain: Montage Of Heck, has defended his decision to release a companion album that solely consists of previously unreleased material recorded by Kurt Cobain alone and not Nirvana. Morgen explained to Rolling Stone, “Montage of Heck: The Home Recordings furthers not just our understanding of his process but represents yet another angle, another side of Kurt — an artistic outlet that he was not necessarily able to work with in the context of a three-piece band.
Morgen added, “It’s not scraps and discarded, insignificant material. It really is furthering our understanding of one of the most significant artists of our time.” The director decided against using unfinished Nirvana material recorded with Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic, although solo versions of Nirvana tracks such as “Been A Son” and “Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge On Seattle” are included. Morgen’s comments echo what he told us when asked about the focus of his movie: “It’s not a film about Courtney and it’s not a film about Dave Grohl and it’s not a film about Nirvana or Seattle or grunge. It’s a film about Kurt, and it’s important to keep that front and center in the conversation.” Morgen has released the track list and artwork for the album, which arrives on Nov 13th.
Sharing this story from Blabbermouth this morning. On October 3, Slipknot frontman Corey Taylor was interviewed by Argentina’s Vorterix radio station prior to the band’s concert in Buenos Aires. You can now watch the chat below. A couple of excerpts follow:
On whether he thinks Slipknot has a chance to follow in the footsteps of bands like Deep Purple and Black Sabbath and become a truly “historic” act:
Corey: “Maybe. You know, as long as the fans are with us… It’s out of our hands. The fans are the ones that put us where we are. And that’s kind of the beautiful thing about it. We just do what we do, and the fans kind of lift us up and they put us in that area. We just headlined Rock In Rio [in Brazil] for the first time, and it was fantastic. It was so beautiful, it was so emotional, and it was just everything that we wanted it to be. And it was probably one of the best shows we’ve ever played. And everybody was talking about it for days afterwards. So, for us, it’s obviously something that we aspire to be. I mean, we pay respect to the bands that came before us, and we try to show respect to the bands that are coming up after us. So if we can be that band that kind of sets that tone as well again, then why not? Why not us?”
On how playing with new members, bassist Alessandro “Vman” Venturella and drummer Jay Weinberg, is different to the way it was when Paul Gray and Joey Jordison were still in the band:
Corey: “I try not to think about it, to be honest, ’cause then it’s trying to compare something that is very different. For me, it was just about finding our groove instead of trying to copy the vibe that we had before. It was about adapting to a new backbeat, a new backbone, a new rhythm section, and just kind of letting that happen and us kind of falling in with it. It was a compromise. When you’re in a band, there’s a lot of compromise, and you have to find that pocket and that beautiful spot where everyone is really kind of doing their own thing and feeling really good about it. So I just kind of look at it as the new phase, basically, and [I’m] just trying to enjoy it for what it is. I try not to compare it too much.”
Slipknot’s latest album, .5: The Gray Chapter, sold 132,000 copies in the U.S. in its first week of release to land at No. 1 on The Billboard 200 chart.
Happy 63rd today to Sharon Osbourne. I will always be your elder! LOL Happy 42 to Terry Balsamo, formerly of Evanescence, Happy 4-0 to Sean Ono Lennon and Happy 57 to Ministry’s Al Jourgensen (can’t believe you made it!) Saturday: Happy 61 to David Lee Roth and Happy 46th to Brett Favre.